San José Museum of Art

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The Modern Photographer: Observation and Intention | Selections from the Permanent Collection

  • A black and white photograph of a person wearing a long sleeved, long prairie style dress with heels. They are wearing a large sun hat and a mask. Their gender is unknown. They look foreboding walking down a city street with old cars from a past time.

    John Gutmann
    Death Stalks the Fillmore, 1934
    Gelatin silver print
    9 ½ x 6 inches
    Gift of David Devine, San Francisco, 1982.54
    Photo: Douglas Sandberg

  • A black and white photograph of an early morning or late night street view of men and women walking next to a tall wall with very large long windows. Their shadows are cast long and thin.

    Paul Strand
    Wall Street, New York, 1915 printed 1984
    Platinum print
    10 x 12 7/8 inches
    Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin, 1997.24.118

  • Dorothea Lange
    Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona, 1940, printed 2002, from the portfolio “Founders & Friends: Aperture at 50”
    Platinum-palladium print
    Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin

  • A black and white image of circular white lifesaver candies. They are sitting on their edges, casting shadows. The angle is taken from above, at a bit of a distance, making them look like tiny white car tires.

    Ruth Bernhard
    Lifesavers, 1930
    Gelatin silver print
    7 ¼ x 9 ¼ inches
    Gift of David Devine, San Francisco, 1982.24
    Photo: Douglas Sandberg

  • André Kertész
    Martinique, 1972
    Gelatin silver print
    7.5 x 9.75 inches
    Gift of Arthur J. Goodwin.

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    The power of photography lies in part in the ability of the camera to seemingly objectify the world—to selectively frame and focus our attention. This exhibition of modernist photographs and photogravures from the first half of the twentieth century emphasizes the role of the photographer as an eloquent, purposeful observer and as a masterful editor of everyday experience.

    Artists represented in this exhibition include Ruth Bernhard, Walker Evans, John Gutmann, André Kertész, Arthur Rothstein, Peter Stackpole, and Weegee, among others.

    For more information click here.

    Sponsors

    • Doris and Alan Burgess
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